i havent done any tests, but i'd assume that just RAW files use less battery than JPEGs because the camera has to compress and sometimes apply noise reduction etc to it, while RAW just throws it straight onto the card

how much do you use the LCD? that's got a larger impact on battery than your shooting mode.

Click to expand...

also the brightness of the lcd
and auto focus...
ai servo can consume a lot, let's say on a game.
maybe the flash?

i don't know if can be a way for regular people to measure batt life based on raw or jpeg but i don't think it would be noticeable
allthough i agree with shorty6049, that it could take some more power since the processor is used to do some compression and saturation.

i havent done any tests, but i'd assume that just RAW files use less battery than JPEGs because the camera has to compress and sometimes apply noise reduction etc to it, while RAW just throws it straight onto the card

Click to expand...

I think camera applies some sort of processing on RAW anyway. If i shoot RAW on my camera, settings like saturation and ADR are visible on LCD. Although ofc files are the same on computer.

The write time is longer for RAW than JPEG. Second to chimping the LCD, writing the file to a flash card uses the most power of any of the cameras functions. (lens functions are another subject.) RAW files use more power to write than JPEG.

Yep jstuedle hit the nail without getting a sore thumb. Processing means nothing. The camera is processing for a split second (ok long shutterspeed NR doesn't count), but processing is literally a matter of milliseconds, as opposed to writing which takes half to whole seconds. In either case the microprocessor is running. This is not a computer processor. It will most likely be running full pelt whether it is writing to the LCD the CF card or processing an image.